Many organizations choose mobile app development outsourcing rather than using an in-house team. As discussed in the post on hiring an app development firm vs. using an internal development team, the reasons are various, but they decide to use a third-party. But even after the decision to hire an external team, there are still many available options when outsourcing your mobile app.
This is a guide for companies to outsource mobile app development. It will go over different routes available, the specific considerations with each avenue, and the associated pros and cons. At the end of this article, more informed decision will be possibly made for you on which mobile app outsourcing option best suits your needs.
Companies that choose to outsource mobile app development will find many available options for them during the vendor selection process. Below are the most common:
These firms focus specifically on mobile app development rather than supplying it as a support service. They typically:
Employ an agile development methodology
Focus on product strategy and UX/UI design
Have strong technical capabilities and specialized platform knowledge
Even within this category, you will find a broad range in quality. Elements such as specific technical expertise, experience, proven ability to deliver, project complexity, team size and more will be rariable dramatically.
Basing on your business’s need and the requirements of your project, you may want to research faces like the vendor’s past clients and projects; their experience with particular technologies or similar features to what you need to develop; team size and location; and the complexity of projects that they have delivered.
They are typically branches of large multinationals – think IBM or Accenture. Majorly technology and software companies supply mobile app development as a secondary service to other core business functions. Their strengths are:
Consultation and product strategy
Strong technical expertise and development capabilities
Often employ an agile development methodology (though not always)
These firms, while highly capable, have disadvantages which may be:
Lack of essential responsiveness and flexibility to meet client needs
Inability to strengthen quickly, which is a key consideration for companies with time sensitive projects
Less attentiveness to clients than you would find with smaller firms
Another factor that the big development firms also typically charge most is what companies will want to consider when outsourcing to a third party.
Mobile is highly in demand, and many talented developers out there. Independent developers normally have strong technical skills, and many of them even both work at mobile app development companies and freelance as a side job. They are typically remarkably cheaper than alternative options, with the exception of offshore firms.
Otherwise, if you outsource app development to an independent developer, you will typically find gaps that can impact on the overall quality of your product, including:
UX/UI design competency
Product strategy/discovery
User and market research
Platform specialization (typically, but not always, independent developers will specialize in only one platform like iOS or Android)
Ability to leverage knowledge/experience of a team to narrow knowledge gaps
For small enterprises or cash-strapped entrepreneurs, independent developers may happen to be the strongest mobile app outsourcing option – particularly if the majority of their budgets on marketing their product will be to be focused on.
Outsourcing mobile app development to an offshore firm is generally made because of budgetary constraints. These firms are remarkably cheaper; however, there are many caveats along with the cost savings. Offshore firms tend to fall short in a number of remarkable areas, including:
Technological and design standards
Overall quality of work
Ability of actual delivery
Adequate security and IP protections
Culture understanding to successfully build for target markets out of their region
Communication because of large time differences
Choosing an off-the-shelf solution is quite a bit different than any of the options mentioned so far, and typically isn’t grouped in with mobile app outsourcing per se. These aren’t custom solutions, but rather out-of-the-box platforms that can sometimes be white-labeled. E-commerce is an outstanding example of a field where off-the-shelf solutions is popular. And they do come with several advantages, such as:
Feature-richness
Quick deployment
Typically lower upfront costs compared to custom app development
Built-in maintenance, or ability of maintenance purchasing
Otherwise, choice of an off-the-shelf solution for your mobile app outsourcing needs also brings a number of downsides, which include:
Difficulty customizing the solution to meet your particular needs
Unessential features and functionality – you’re paying for unnecessary features
Vendor lock-in, because it’s expensive and time-consuming to transition away from these kinds of solutions
Standardized UI/UX
Inability of adaptation quickly to changing business or market needs since you need to wait for the solution to update
Outsourcing app development needs to come with your organizational goals and the requirements of your project. Decision of what these are will help you estimate some of the options that don’t fit your needs, early in the process. Other things will be considered include the amount of risk your organization is willing to take and your mobile app development budge, how important it is to customize your solution given the expectations of your customers and your competition in the market; how perfect your product needs to be; if you need a more consultative engagement on top of development, and more. When the best route is chosen, you can start researching and shortlist vendors that tick the right boxes.